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The Role of First Language Literacy and Second Language ...

177 The Reading Matrix 2011 Volume 11, Number 2, April 2011 The Role of First Language Literacy and Second Language Proficiency in Second Language Reading Comprehension Xiangying Jiang West Virginia University ABSTRACT This study examined the interrelationships of First Language (L1) Literacy , Second Language (L2) proficiency, and L2 reading comprehension with 246 Chinese college students learning English. L1 Literacy and L2 proficiency were measured with college admission exams in Chinese and English. L2 reading comprehension was measured with the reading comprehension section of a TOEFL and a researcher-developed passage comprehension test.

179 comprehension development of 389 adolescent students during a three-year span from Grades 8 through 10. Analyses of students’ performances on reading comprehension, linguistic knowledge,

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1 177 The Reading Matrix 2011 Volume 11, Number 2, April 2011 The Role of First Language Literacy and Second Language Proficiency in Second Language Reading Comprehension Xiangying Jiang West Virginia University ABSTRACT This study examined the interrelationships of First Language (L1) Literacy , Second Language (L2) proficiency, and L2 reading comprehension with 246 Chinese college students learning English. L1 Literacy and L2 proficiency were measured with college admission exams in Chinese and English. L2 reading comprehension was measured with the reading comprehension section of a TOEFL and a researcher-developed passage comprehension test.

2 L1 Literacy was found to be moderately correlated with L2 Language proficiency, as was L2 Language proficiency with L2 reading comprehension. Regression analyses demonstrated that L2 Language proficiency accounted for 27%-39% of variance in L2 reading comprehension, while L1 Literacy accounted for less than 6% of the variance. These findings confirmed the assumption that L2 Language proficiency contributes up to 30% of the variance in L2 reading performance, but failed to provide evidence that L1 Literacy contributes up to about 20% of the variance in L2 reading.

3 INTRODUCTION The Second Language (L2) reading process involves the interplay of two Language systems. When reading in a Second Language , readers have access to their First Language (L1) and often use their L1 as a reading strategy (Carson, Carrell, Silberstein, Kroll, & Kuehn, 1990; Upton & Lee-Thompson, 2001). However, L1 and L2 reading differ in many ways. Grabe (2009) indicates three major sets of differences: linguistic and processing differences, cognitive and educational differences, and sociocultural and institutional differences.

4 Although L1 and L2 reading differ in a number of important ways, to better understand L2 reading, it is important to understand what role L1 Literacy plays in the development of L2 reading (Hudson, 2007). The role of L1 Literacy in L2 reading development had largely been a missing variable in empirical research until the 1990s, and only recently have researchers emphasized the importance of the impact of L1 Literacy knowledge on L2 reading development (Bernhardt, 2005; Koda, 2005, 2007). 178 LITERATURE REVIEW There are two main positions regarding the relationship between L1 Literacy and L2 reading development: the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis and the Linguistic Threshold Hypothesis.

5 According to the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis, L1 Literacy provides a good foundation for Second Language reading development. The hypothesis posits that fundamental similarities exist between First and Second Language skills, and that they are interdependent. Specifically, reading performance in a Second Language is largely shared with reading ability in a First Language (Bernhardt & Kamil, 1995). When students are literate in their primary Language , they possess funds of knowledge about various aspects of reading, and this knowledge provides an experiential base for Literacy development in the Second Language (Moll, 1994; Peregoy & Boyle, 2000).

6 In other words, Language operations such as reading and writing should be transferable across languages. Once a set of Language operations has been acquired, they will also be available within Second Language contexts. The role of L2 Language proficiency in L2 reading development has been emphasized through the alternative hypothesis regarding the relationship between L1 reading and L2 reading, which is the Linguistic Threshold Hypothesis. The main assumption of the Linguistic Threshold Hypothesis (Cummins, 1979) or Linguistic Ceiling (Clarke, 1979, 1980) is that readers will need to develop a certain level of Language proficiency in the target Language before they can transfer L1 reading skills or strategies to improve L2 reading comprehension.

7 Before this threshold level of Language proficiency or linguistic ceiling is reached, whether or not they read well in their L1 does not make much difference in their L2 reading performance (Lee & Schallert, 1997). The argument between the two hypotheses has not been whether there is transfer or not, but rather when transfer occurs (Bernhardt, 2005; Grabe, 2009). The following literature review examines research-based evidence for both hypotheses in order to demonstrate our current understanding of the relationship between L1 Literacy , L2 proficiency, and L2 reading comprehension.

8 Empirical Evidence for the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis Empirical research has provided some support to the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis. Research on the reading abilities of bilingual children has demonstrated moderate but significant relationships between their L1 and L2 reading abilities (Bernhardt & Kamil, 1995; Cummins, 1991; Van Gelderen, et al., 2004; Van Gelderen, Schoonen, Stoel, de Glopper & Hulstijn, 2007; Verhoeven, 1991, 1994, 2000; Droop & Verhoeven, 2003). For example, as stated by Verhoeven (1991), Literacy skills being developed in one Language strongly predict corresponding skills in another Language acquired later in time (p.)

9 72). Verhoeven (1991) examined the processes of biliteracy development of 138 First -Grade Turkish children in the Netherlands. One group of children was involved in an L2 submersion curriculum, which provided L2 Literacy instruction before L1 Literacy instruction. The other group of children followed the L1/L2 transitional curriculum, where Literacy skills were First taught in L1. The submersion group exhibited a strong transfer from earlier acquired decoding and reading comprehension skills in L2 to later-acquired similar skills in L1, and the L1/L2 transition group also demonstrated a positive transfer of L1 Literacy skills to similar skills in L2.

10 Van Gelderen et al. (2004, 2007) represent another example that supports the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis. These authors investigated Dutch-as-L1 and English-as-L2 reading 179 comprehension development of 389 adolescent students during a three-year span from Grades 8 through 10. Analyses of students performances on reading comprehension, linguistic knowledge, processing efficiency in both languages, and their metacognitive knowledge about reading indicated that the component skills of L1 and L2 reading held different weights in L1 and L2 reading models.


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